I decided to write about my passion for gardening past, present and future.
I have been ill suffering with Lyme Disease since May 2003 but at last after long term antibiotic treatment getting my life back and can again enjoy my garden.

Saturday, 31 December 2011

I have been very neglectful of my garden blog this last year due to various things not least my involvement in advocacy of Lyme Disease not just through my Looking at Lyme Disease blog but in helping support other sufferers and campaigning through my Member of Parliament, who is being very supportive. The replies however from our Department of Health would be laughable if it wasn't for so many people's suffering, they trip themselves up frequently and show how ignorant they are of the developing research.

The garden continues to be enjoyed and there have been various changes. Due to having some lovely new hardwood windows and Mike decorating the house, we decided to cut the Wisteria hard back. I did check on Google and found re assurance from Arabella Sock who I know of through the blogasphere but can't now find the link. So with fingers crossed we cut back the Wisteria to about knee high and at the end of the Autumn we were rewarded in seeing one new shoot reach about 3 feet before the Winter.

The Fuschia bushes have been flowering well into December as we still have not had much in the way of frost yet.

I took the opportunity to get Mike to relocate the water barrel which was always an eyesore next to the garage. So painted black and at last connected to a down pipe it already is proving to be less of an eyesore and very useful.

The Wallflower are looking good this year and again were grown from seed in the greenhouse to start then into pots and planted out in the vegetable patch after we had harvested early crops.

My daughter Rachel took me to a lovely pub/eating place The Churchill Arms not far from Notting Hill, the eating area was in a conservatory and the ceiling was covered in hanging plants it was absolutely amazing, so I decided to have a go at making our lean to a bit more interesting. The roof height is a little low but already it is looking rather nice.

The yellow flower on the bottom right is a Coronilla Glauca Citrina. It was a present from my daughter Rebecca two years ago. It has not stopped flowering since she gave it to me, but in Winter it flowers the most and the perfume is so delicate and welcome at this time of year. It says it is fully hardy but I bring it into the lean to during the Winter months because I am not altogether convinced of that.

Still interesting colours along the back terrace

Although the climbers were very hard pruned for the decorating and new windows they are recovering well. I love the new door which is a stable door something I have always wanted.

In March my 90 year old Dad came to live with us, he is still able to get about slowly but decided he couldn't manage his house and garden alone.

Leah at the well came with him.

The Hydrangeas are looking particularly colourful this Autumn.

There are still a number of roses flowering and the box comes into it's own dressing the vegetable garden in the Winter.

This was another big change to the garden. Thirty years ago when we moved here we planted a hedge of Leylandii. It made a good hedge between us and the neighbours at the bottom and although Mike pruned it hard it was a mammoth task. About 10 years ago the fence behind the Leylandii came down and with agreement of the neighbour we decided we didn't want another fence but in order to disguise the brown Leylandii which loses it's green against a fence and does not re grow, we planted Laurel in between the Leylandii. All the best advice said not to do this as they would not survive. They were small plants and needed watering during the Summer months but had grown well if a little sideways. So we decided the time had come to get rid of the Leylandii and hopefully in the next year or two the Laurel will shape up to become a more manageable hedge.

With the removal of the Leylandii we gained 3/4 feet across the bottom of the garden so scope for other things which is always fun for a gardener. Mike did the spade work in digging up the no mans land in this bottom corner much of which is riddled with Ground Elder and Bindweed. We will never get rid of it but every now and then we have a purge in one part of the garden or another. This has all been replanted now with plants from my nursery so looking forward to seeing how it progresses. I had grown lots of plants over the last couple of years because Rebecca and husband moved house and so lots of nursery plants have helped furnish their new garden.

The greenhouses are tucked up for the Winter, those plants on the left were grown from seed and in true Joanne fashion I lost the label and name. I do know what they are not and am hoping they are Dierama pulcherrimum or Angel's Fishing rods but maybe that is wishfull thinking because I lost the original plant and had tried seeding them.

Of course I am as usual slow to get my head around blogger changes but seem to be coping after having initially tried adding this to my wrong blog!

So all in all it has been an interesting year but the best news was becoming a Grandma to a lovely little Graddaughter.

Sunday, 12 June 2011

Belle of Woking looking lovely here, it has a slight grey mauve tinge which does not weather well and looks like a mop on a stick as it dies off.

I have been so busy gardening and enjoying the Clematis that I forgot to take photos when they were at their best how remiss of me. Above is Mrs N Thompson loving a dark corner near the arch and gate.

Rebecca was given to me by it's namesake my daughter and only added to my collection early this spring it has been a magnificent specimen flowering profusely in it's first season one very well worth adding to a collection and again seems to be happy in a shady spot.

Sorry about the bedraggled Josephine but it has flowered profusely and desrves a better photo but there are many posted on earlier blogs of clematis.

Sunset looking the best ever this year with quite a number of blooms, but I planted it some ten years ago and it has really struggled even though it gets fed and watered in the same way as other plants.

This is a real treasure William Kennett, I lost the original plant possibly too hot and dry where I planted it but this was a successful cutting which is coming into it's own.

I think this is Vit. Etoille Violette under the front window.

Mamori an unusual name and one I often forget but isn't the internet clever and here was a link I found from spelling it incorrectly

Thursday, 2 June 2011

Welcome to my June garden. Although I haven't been posting for such a long time I have been busy in the garden and taking time to enjoy the lovely sunny weather we have been having this year. Watering copiously as there has been no rainfall since the end of February until a small shower or two this last week not enough to dampen the leaves.

Cornus Kousa looking lovely but it needs a more shady spot than I chose to plant.

Greenfinch rambler always looks lovely but is difficult to photograph to do it justice.

Albertine every wall needs an Albertine.

Vielchenbleu just beginning to flower and should be a wonderful show judging from the number of buds.

Prince Charles an excellent clematis.

Pink Fantasy

Rambling Rector what a picture.

Lots going on in the working area.

Even after off loading plants to my daughters and the occasional visitor there's lots left. Note to self stop potting things on when you haven't room for what you have already got.

Sweet peas for cutting seem to do well in these pots.

Thank you Mike for doing an excellent job of cutting the Box.

Don't these trees make such a wonderful backdrop to that side of the garden.

This is actually the vegetable garden but is the prettiest part of the garden and the most interesting as well as the most fragrant.

How lucky I am to have a garden and the good health once again to enjoy it.

After struggling to find time to post I found I was unable to publish through blogger help I discovered the message Javascript void when trying to press the publish button was connected to a download I did recently of Internet Explorer 9 I have removed this download so fingers crossed looking good so far as other changes have resolved.

Friday, 11 February 2011

The Tabbush Sister's are back in action to save our forests. Please steal this song, sing it, re-write it, arrange it or just send this youtube clip to everyone you know. Pass it on to stop the government selling our forests! x

Now if only people power could make such a difference over Lyme Borreliosis and co infections we might actually save a few thousand people from suffering chronic Lyme Disease un necessarily. See my other blog for more information.

LYME LIFE written 2009

I started suffering with arthritis in mainly my large joints especially my knees 6 years ago. The symptoms varied and I remember saying that every joint was affected except my elbows to one doctor. I was told it would be hormonal and to take the usual supplements cod liver oil or glucosamine ( I would certainly recommend buying shares in the companies producing these supplements) They had no noticeable affect.

All my symptoms deteriorated significantly over a few weeks, 4 years ago. Hips shoulders and knees being the worst and I started with muscle weakness in upper arms and upper legs. I had difficulty standing and walking across a room. I was unable to walk upstairs and my husband was making plans to convert to a downstairs bedroom. I had seen 5 doctors and 3 Rheumatologists and put on steroids for Poly Myalgia Rheumatica diagnosis. I had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and ME/CFS.

I have X rays and scans showing signs of osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis. I have been retired early from the Civil Service having lost my job not to mention my earning potential.

My illness seemed to progress through my body not affecting the same joints left to right at the same time. I had bursitis in left hip, right hip, left elbow. I had synovial thickening in both wrists. At that time I could not lift and hold a magazine so lifting a kettle I could only do if a third full and with two hands. Each joint in my hands fingers feet and toes were affected. I had swallowing difficulties and many other symptoms. None of this describes the endless and awful pain whenever I moved or the tiredness but inability to get quality sleep.

Two years ago my GP gave me Amoxicilin for a sinus/throat/chest infection. All my arthritis symptoms improved. The course ended the symptoms deteriorated I started a second course the symptoms improved. The improvement was more significant than when I had started taking steroids. This led my GP to suspect Lyme Disease. I laughed because we do not travel abroad but she said they had had other cases in the surgery in the early stages of tick bite and Erythma Migrans rash. She said, but you have not had a bite. I said oh yes I have I had two on my ankles with rashes, March 05 this was confirmed on her computer at the time I had seen a locum doctor. My worst symptoms were waking up feeling rigid and having to painfully flex every joint in my body before struggling to get up. The only other time I had experienced this was in May 2003 during a flu like illness like no other I had ever experienced. At that time I had a bite and similar rash on my right foot which lasted like the other rashes about four weeks. I had also consulted the surgery and it was dismissed as a virus. I walked our dog daily in the woods adjacent to our house where the deer roam, prime tick area.

Thus started my very lengthy search about Lyme Disease leading me through http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/ to a doctor who specialises in this illness. He confirmed my GP's suspicions. I never had a positive blood test but then they are antigen tests and there is much research that shows they are unreliable. In my case the year of steroids and many weeks antibiotics could have affected the results. So with a clinical diagnosis and following ILADS International Lyme and Associated Disease Society guidelines I continued on antibiotics for two years. Both my doctors continued to treat me despite the Health Protection Agency advising against long term antibiotics. I am now nearly 100% recovered I have no pain or muscle weakness. I can walk upstairs something I could not do for three and a half years. I can garden do house work and live a normal life. I still need to pace myself and with only a few months to 60 will not be looking to return to work.

Life is such a joy.

Sadly there is much controversy about Lyme Disease and doctors in UK are taught that it is so rare. Well where I live in Guildford I have been in contact with a dozen other people with it so perhaps not so rare as HPA would like us to believe. I am in touch with nearly 2000 other patients through a chat line Eurolyme most had been misdiagnosed with several other illnesses.

Look at UK charity http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/ if you want to read more about this illness. There are many MP's taking an interest in the problems surrounding diagnosis and treatment see above charity links into a recent meeting at the House of Commons.

Thank goodness there are some thinking doctors around who have courageously treated me against opposition and I have made such a miraculous recovery albeit rather a lengthy one.

One day there will be many more people who are helped with their chronic illnesses when IDSA starts taking note of what our courageous LLMD’s are doing following ILADS Guidelines.